Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on Everton's Transfer Deadline Day

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall calls transfer deadline day “exciting for everyone”. His own version at Everton was anything but straightforward.

What began with optimism descended into confusion, and by the time the window slammed shut the midfielder was left exasperated – for very different reasons to a fanbase raging at a summer that seemed to strip more than it added under The Friedkin Group.

David Moyes finished deadline day with fewer players than he started with, only one recognised striker and no specialist cover at either full-back. To cap it all, US international Folarin Balogun walked away from a £40m move minutes after a deal sheet had gone in. Supporters saw a club shrinking at the very moment it should have been pushing on.

Inside the dressing room, the mood is not what the outside noise suggests.

“We’ll show everyone”

“Really good to be honest,” Dewsbury-Hall says, refusing to play along with the gloom. “Definitely not the same mood as what I’ve seen on the outside. There’s a good mentality this year of: ‘We’ll show everyone.’”

Everton’s performances so far back that up, and Dewsbury-Hall has not hidden from the backlash that followed the club’s quiet end to the window.

“I’ve seen all of the reactions, all of the meltdowns, and in all honesty it annoyed me a bit,” he admits. “I get where people are coming from; everyone wants to sign everyone and have the perfect squad. But there are still 19 lads in this building who are going to hopefully take this club to good things this year. That was getting disregarded.

“I saw people saying: ‘We’ll be lucky to stay up this year.’ What message is that sending to the lads who are already here? I’m not blaming anyone. We get it. It didn’t work. But let’s all be positive – right, it’s done, bang, let’s go – and that’s what we’ve been trying to say in the dressing room. Of course we would have wanted to sign a couple more, but we’re happy with what we’ve got and it’s given us more impetus now to move on.”

Moyes has already voiced concern about what the club’s transfer business might signal to his squad. Dewsbury-Hall pushes back on the idea that it has damaged belief.

“Not really, no,” he says. “I know we’ve got a smaller squad but we’ve got some really good players. Our starting XI is top, a European starting XI.

“I get it, you need a whole squad, but we’ve got 17, 18 players at a really, really good level. I don’t think a couple of years ago it was at that level. Actually I know it wasn’t. Things can be out of your hands in football and that’s what happened for us. But we quickly realised: ‘Hang on a minute, look around the dressing room – top player, top player, top player.’ If we’re doing the right things we can still be successful.”

From Stamford Bridge to centre stage

Dewsbury-Hall has become central to that ambition. Since his £28m move from Chelsea last summer, he has gone from frustrated squad option to one of Everton’s driving forces. Regular minutes and responsibility have justified his decision to walk away from Stamford Bridge.

“I’m in the prime years of my career,” he says. “I couldn’t afford to spend more years stagnating.”

His influence now stretches far beyond match days. After Séamus Coleman’s departure, Everton created a new leadership group to plug the hole left by their long-serving captain. Dewsbury-Hall’s peers put his name forward.

“Because Séamus has left such a big hole we need a group of experienced lads to crack on together and keep the standards high and to drive things,” he explains. “It’s just the more experienced lads – [Jordan] Pickford, Tarky [James Tarkowski, the new club captain], Jimmy [James] Garner, myself. The ones that have been playing in the Premier League for years or feel like they are settled at the club.

“It’s nice [to be voted in after just one season] but it’s definitely an impact I wanted to have. I’m really pleased that the lads look at me as someone that can be important for the dressing room.”

He is getting exactly what he came for: responsibility, pressure, and a voice.

Protecting the next generation

That sense of duty shows most clearly in his relationship with Harrison Armstrong. The 19-year-old midfielder came within a whisker of leaving on deadline day, on the verge of joining Nottingham Forest before Everton’s hierarchy were forced into a U-turn.

The catalyst was the away end at Bournemouth. Evertonians, furious at the prospect of losing one of their brightest prospects, made themselves heard.

“They definitely made their feelings known and obviously it worked,” Dewsbury-Hall says. “Big credit to them for that, they were amazing that day. And I know for a fact it made Harrison feel very good and it helped him. He is a very confident lad and well respected in the dressing room for such a young age.”

Dewsbury-Hall has taken it upon himself to sharpen the teenager’s game.

“If there is anything I can help him with then I will. Shooting’s definitely one because his shooting is sometimes not the best, and I’ve told him that many times. But he’s got pretty much everything else. He always likes to say he’s got a better strike than me so I just tell him to look at the [Crystal] Palace goal or the Wolves goal last season. We have good banter.”

Behind the jokes sits a clear message: standards matter, and the kids will be held to them.

Eyes on Europe – and England

Dewsbury-Hall is not hiding from his own targets either. The Nottingham-born midfielder talks openly about European qualification, even with a trimmed squad. He wants a serious cup run. He wants to improve every part of his game. And he wants an England cap.

His form has not gone unnoticed by Thomas Tuchel, who names his next squad on Friday.

“I know I’m the closest I have ever been now,” Dewsbury-Hall says. “You get a message two weeks before the squad is announced. I got one for the long list for the World Cup and I’ve had one for these next games. It’s nice. It means you are doing OK.

“It’s a long, long message. It tells you that it’s a legal requirement for us [the Football Association] to tell you in advance that you are in contention and to be available for these dates. It’s a good feeling because you think: ‘OK, I am close,’ but you know you have to keep pushing it to the last minute. It’s up to me. It’s got to be me that forces his hand to choose me. It’s not going to be given to me.”

The same, he knows, applies to Everton. Nothing will be handed to a club that has cut back when others have loaded up.

But inside a leaner dressing room, with the noise raging outside, Dewsbury-Hall is clear: they are not planning to feel sorry for themselves. They are planning to prove people wrong.